Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B60R21/00—Arrangements or fittings on vehicles for protecting or preventing injuries to occupants or pedestrians in case of accidents or other traffic risks
  • B60R21/02—Occupant safety arrangements or fittings, e.g. crash pads
  • B60R21/16—Inflatable occupant restraints or confinements designed to inflate upon impact or impending impact, e.g. air bags
  • B60R21/23—Inflatable members
  • B60R21/235—Inflatable members characterised by their material
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D03—WEAVING
  • D03D—WOVEN FABRICS; METHODS OF WEAVING; LOOMS
  • D03D1/00—Woven fabrics designed to make specified articles
  • D03D1/02—Inflatable articles
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D03—WEAVING
  • D03D—WOVEN FABRICS; METHODS OF WEAVING; LOOMS
  • D03D15/00—Woven fabrics characterised by the material, structure or properties of the fibres, filaments, yarns, threads or other warp or weft elements used
  • D03D15/20—Woven fabrics characterised by the material, structure or properties of the fibres, filaments, yarns, threads or other warp or weft elements used characterised by the material of the fibres or filaments constituting the yarns or threads
  • D03D15/283—Woven fabrics characterised by the material, structure or properties of the fibres, filaments, yarns, threads or other warp or weft elements used characterised by the material of the fibres or filaments constituting the yarns or threads synthetic polymer-based, e.g. polyamide or polyester fibres
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B60R21/00—Arrangements or fittings on vehicles for protecting or preventing injuries to occupants or pedestrians in case of accidents or other traffic risks
  • B60R21/02—Occupant safety arrangements or fittings, e.g. crash pads
  • B60R21/16—Inflatable occupant restraints or confinements designed to inflate upon impact or impending impact, e.g. air bags
  • B60R21/23—Inflatable members
  • B60R21/235—Inflatable members characterised by their material
  • B60R2021/23504—Inflatable members characterised by their material characterised by material
  • B60R2021/23509—Fabric
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
  • Y10T428/00—Stock material or miscellaneous articles
  • Y10T428/13—Hollow or container type article [e.g., tube, vase, etc.]
  • Y10T428/1352—Polymer or resin containing [i.e., natural or synthetic]
  • Y10T428/1362—Textile, fabric, cloth, or pile containing [e.g., web, net, woven, knitted, mesh, nonwoven, matted, etc.]

Definitions

• the present invention relates generally to fabric constructions having controlled permeability characteristics and more specifically to fabric useful in an automotive air bag wherein the air permeability is not substantially increased when taken from an untensioned state to a biaxially tensioned state in a range of about 150 pounds force per linear inch in both the warp and the fill direction.
• Passive collision restraint systems typically incorporate a cushion portion which is manufactured from a woven textile material. Such cushion portion is inflated during a collision event so as to provide a barrier between a vehicle occupant and the vehicle interior structures against which that occupant would otherwise be thrown.
• a cushion portion which is manufactured from a woven textile material.
• Such cushion portion is inflated during a collision event so as to provide a barrier between a vehicle occupant and the vehicle interior structures against which that occupant would otherwise be thrown.
• the deployment of an air bag cushion is an extremely rapid and violent event which is initiated and completed within milliseconds. Such deployment and subsequent impact is believed to place the fabric of the cushion under substantial stresses.
• a standard measure of performance for air bag fabrics is air permeability. These standards have historically been set and measured in relation to fabrics which are in a substantially non-tensioned environment such as in the procedure set forth by ASTH-D737. It has been postulated that typical fabrics which have historically made use of plain weave or ripstop weave constructions as are well known in the art will display fairly substantial increases in air permeability when subjected to tensional forces.
• Figure l is a weave diagram illustrating a potentially preferred repeating pick pattern formed using a four pick arrangement
• Fig. 2 is a weave diagram illustrating the multiple repeat arrangement formed by the pick pattern in Fig. l.
• Fig. 3 is a weave diagram illustrating an alternative pick repeat pattern according to the present invention formed using a six pick structure
• Fig. 4 is a weave diagram illustrating the multiple repeat arrangement of the pick pattern illustrated in Fig. 3;
• Fig. 5 illustrates the relation between air permeability at a differential pressure of 124 Pascals across the fabric and uniform applied tension for a 315 denier construction air bag fabric formed according to both the prior art and the weave diagram of Figs. 1 and 2.
• Fig. 6 is a graph similar to Fig. 5 for a 630 denier fabric
• Fig. 7 is a graph similar to Fig. 5 wherein the Y- axis represents air permeability at a differential pressure of 3 psi;
• Fig. 8 is a graph similar to Fig. 7 for a 630 denier fabric.
• Fig. 9 is a graph similar to Fig. 7 for a 70 denier X 100 denier construction formed in accordance with Figs. 3 and 4. While specific embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and will be described, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto, since modifications may be made and other embodiments of the principals of this invention will occur to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains. Rather, it is intended to cover all such alternative embodiments, procedures, and modifications thereto as may fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention as limited only by the claims herein and equivalents thereto.
• a fabric is formed from a four pick repeat pattern utilizing four body harnesses.
• first and third warp ends are preferably up while the second and fourth warp ends are down. As illustrated, this results in the pick yarn being passed below the first and third warp ends and above the second and fourth warp ends.
• the second and third warp ends are preferably up while the first and fourth warp ends are down.
• first and fourth warp ends are preferably up while first and third warp ends are down. This results in the pick yarn passing over first and third warp yarns and beneath second and fourth warp yarns.
• first and fourth warp ends are preferably up while second and third warp ends are down. This results in the pick yarn passing below first and fourth warp yarns and over second and third warp yarns.
• This same movement of the harnesses and resulting pick pattern is thereafter repeated time and again as the fabric is woven.
• Fig. 3 there is shown a six pick repeat pattern 20 according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
• the repeating arrangement of the pick repeat pattern of Fig. 3 across a woven fabric 21 is illustrated in Fig. 4.
• first, third and fourth warp ends are preferably up while second, fifth and sixth warp ends are down.
• first, second and fifth warp ends are preferably up while third, fourth, and sixth warp ends are down.
• third, fifth and sixth warp ends are preferably up while first, second, and fourth warp ends are down.
• first, third, and fourth warp ends are preferably up while second, fifth, and sixth warp ends are down.
• first, second, and fifth warp ends are preferably up while third, fourth, and sixth warp ends are down.
• third, fifth, and sixth warp ends are preferably up while first, second, and fourth warp ends are down.
• a weave diagram indicating the resultant fabric structure utilizing the pick repeat pattern illustrated and described in relation to Fig. 3 is shown in Fig. 4. As illustrated, utilization of the six pick repeat pattern produces a balanced and substantially symmetrical pattern wherein the warps across each pick are characterized by a repeating arrangement of l up, l down, 2 up, 2 down.
• a perceived benefit of the present invention is the production of fabrics wherein the air permeability is not substantially increased, and may actually decrease, as the fabric is subject to tensile stresses such as may occur during a collision event involving the air bag fabric.
• Fig. 5 measurements of air permeability for fabric formed according to the weave diagrams of Figs. 1 and 2 using 315 denier yarn according to the present invention and a plain weave fabric using 315 denier yarn according to the prior art at a nominal weave density of 60 X 60 threads per inch are compared across a range of biaxial tensions of equal magnitude in the warp and the fill directions.
• Fig. 6 measurements of air permeability for fabric formed according to the weave diagrams of Figs.
• Figures 1(a), 1(b) and 1(c) of the '878 patent show dramatic increases in permeability of at least 500 percent or more when traditional fabrics are subjected to equal tensions in the warp and the fill directions in the range of from zero up to about 150 pounds force per linear inch (26.25 KN/M) . While most standard air permeability tests are carried out at relatively low pressures in the range of 124 Pascals, it is understood that during a collision event, internal air bag pressures may be much higher. In Figs. 7 and 8, the permeability characteristics of fabrics formed according to the weave pattern of Fig. are illustrated at differential pressures of three pounds force per square inch, in Fig.
• Fig. 9 the permeability measurements for fabric formed according to the weave diagram of Figs. 3 and 4, using a low denier construction of 70 denier yarn in the warp and 100 denier yarn in the weft is illustrated over a range of applied tensions in comparison to a plain weave fabric using the same yarns at a nominal weave density of 180 X 180 threads per inch. As illustrated, a dramatic reduction in permeability at increased tensions was obtained.
• the present invention is thus believed to be equally applicable to standard weight fabrics using yarns of between about 300 and about 840 denier as well as to lightweight fabrics using yarn of 300 denier or less.
• any increase in the permeability of the fabric of the present invention over a range of applied tensions of equal magnitude in the warp and the fill directions of between zero and about 150 pounds force per linear inch will be substantially less than that expected from prior art fabrics, and will preferably be in the range of about fifty percent or less.
• the fabric of the present invention will have the above-identified permeability retention characteristics and will also exhibit initial permeabilities at no tensional loading of not more than about five SCFM/FT 2 at about 124 Pascals across the fabric and may have initial permeabilities as low as about one SCFM/FT 2 or less.
• EXAMPLE 1 An air bag fabric was woven from 315 denier warp yarn and 315 denier filling yarn according to a weave pattern as illustrated and described with respect to Figs, l and 2.
• the yarn utilized was single ply nonhollow nylon 6,6 available from AKZO N.V.
• the weaving was performed on a 210 centimeter Dornier weaving machine with a 1/4 inch selvage and eight harnesses.
• the fabric was thereafter scoured and heatset in ordinary fashion yielding a product having physical properties as set forth in TABLE I.
• SUBSTITUTE SHEET EXAMPLE 2 An air bag fabric was woven from 630 denier warp yarn and 630 denier filling yarn according to a weave pattern as illustrated and described with respect to Figs, l and 2. The yarn utilized was single ply nonhollow nylon 6,6 available from DuPont de Nemours. The weaving was performed on a 210 centimeter Dornier weaving machine with a 1/4 inch selvage and eight harnesses. The greige fabric was thereafter scoured and heatset in ordinary fashion yielding a product having physical properties as set forth in TABLE 2.
• Permeability was measured with uniform stress applied around a fabric sample. The results of the permeability measurement are as shown in Figs. 6 and ⁇ .
• EXAMPLE 3 An air bag fabric was woven from a 420 denier warp yarn and a 420 denier filling yarn according to a weave pattern as illustrated and described with respect to Figs. 1 and 2.
• the yarn utilized was single ply nonhollow nylon 6,6 available from AKZO N.V.. The weaving was performed on a 210 centimeter Dornier weaving machine with a 1/4
• a lightweight air bag fabric was woven from a 70 denier warp yarn and a 100 denier filling yarn according to a weave pattern as illustrated and described with respect to Figs. 3 and 4.
• the yarn utilized was single ply nylon 6,6 available from Du Pont de Nemours.
• the weaving was performed on a 190 centimeter Nissan air-jet weaving machine with a 1/4 inch selvage and six harnesses.
• the fabric was thereafter secured and heatset in ordinary fashion yielding a product having physical properties as set forth in TABLE 4.
• the present invention provides a fabric which has substantially improved retention of air permeability characteristics over that which is previously available in prior art fabrics.
• Such fabrics may be either of light weight or standard weight construction. While preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, using specific terms, such description as been for illustrative purposes only, and it is to be understood that changes and variations may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention which is defined and limited only by the appended claims and equivalents thereto.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Textile Engineering (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Woven Fabrics (AREA)
• Air Bags (AREA)

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Publications (2)

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• 1996
  • 1996-04-01 US US08/625,311 patent/US5704402A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
• 1997
  • 1997-03-27 DE DE69733333T patent/DE69733333T2/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1997-03-27 AU AU25940/97A patent/AU2594097A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1997-03-27 WO PCT/US1997/005080 patent/WO1997037068A1/fr active IP Right Grant
  • 1997-03-27 JP JP9535446A patent/JPH11507112A/ja active Pending
  • 1997-03-27 AT AT97917677T patent/ATE296369T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1997-03-27 EP EP97917677A patent/EP0828875B1/fr not_active Expired - Lifetime
• 1998
  • 1998-01-05 US US09/002,971 patent/US5921287A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime

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